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Where do "black sounding" names come from?
I find it hard to take anyone with these names seriously. Even though I know they didn't choose to be called that and it is wrong, I just subconsciously feel they're less intelligent. I imagine the same happens when recruiters are looking through resumes.
[Meta] Is anyone, including the mods, bothered that this subreddit has turned to more of a "answer" subreddit, rather than an explanation subreddit?
Mods: is the recommendation to report questions that don't seem to fit this subreddit, or to downvote them? Would questions that are easily google-able fall under this category?", 'Im still learning a ton, so it really makes no difference to me', "Definitely. Whilst one day I was sitting with all the free time I have p...
Why dont people just leave in an abusive relationship?
Often the abusive partner isn't abusive for the majority of the time. You have a seemingly happy and fulfilling relationship with them. Often the violence comes at irregular intervals, as if at random. In that situation it's really easy for the abused to blame themselves for the attack. After all the abuser is fine mos...
Why don't universities have whole buildings (or at least floors of existing buildings) that contain nothing but workspaces?
I am not explaining this because I don't know but I too have wondered that. I suggest something like a computer lab that is not a class room placed around universities.
how can hybrid cars where the conventional engine is only there to charge the batteries possibly be efficient?
In addition to what's already been said, allow me to point out that electricity to torque is quite efficient. In addition to that, electric engines operate at peak efficiency throught most of their load range, including accelerating at low speeds, where combustion engines are very inefficient.
Why do shipping routes seem to go so far away from their intended destination sometimes?
If it is UPS and on a plane then it will almost always go through Louisville. It's their main hub.
Why is it that hotels will give you shower caps, body moisturizer etc. but not something everyone would use: toothpaste?
Like others said, they usually do provide those if you ask. I can only speculate as to why they're not in the rooms, but my guess would be toothpaste is too expensive to give everyone a tube who's just going to use it once or twice during their stay. Then they'd either throw it out or take it with them. Having to ask f...
In Lord of the Rings why did the races of Men, Dwarves and Elves originally accept the rings from Sauron?
Because Sauron was a smooth motherfucker. Silmarillion explains it, but the short version is that he took the form of an angel and was charismatic and bold enough to carry it off. Example: He fell from grace with the Valar , worked his way back into their esteem, then fell from grace AGAIN and still managed to get back...
how do we know drug dogs are not being trained to give false alerts by their dog handlers?
Just to understand your question - what's the benefit to a dog handler of mis-training his or her dog in this respect?
Does Pandora music streaming service stream the exact same song file to countless devices, have multiple files of the same song...or something else? How does Pandora work?
I've always suspected they use the highly effective compression algorithm that was inspired by the [Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency model]. [More on the model here].[This is how Pandora works ] Sorry about the quality the best I could find on mobile ', "It's in the magical cloud. That's all you need to know.Pandora, like...
How do they determine when to fix a specific problem with the roads at a stae/county/town level? Like do they have someone out looking for stuff?
My city has a page on its website where citizens can report things that are broken. I've used it, and I found that things get taken care of rather promptly--a lot faster than if you just waited for city workers to discover the problem on their own.
Why are most crossbred species sterile?
Cross-breeding eventually delute the genes to the point where certain traits and functions no longer exist. Or something along those lines. When I worked at the St Louis Zoo, one of my jobs was to monitor the particular animals in my charge. Some animals we only had a handful of so making sure inbreeding didn't take pl...
Why are men fascinated with cars?
I have no idea. I've never understood it. And I'm a man.It is a cultural password which has not been appropriated.
Why are bicycles and scooters/mopeds allowed to be driven far below the posted speed limit, when the same person could be ticketed for driving a car the same speed?
I think you might be confusing speed limits with a required speed. I know of only a few major highways around here that actually have a posted minimum, anywhere else it is perfectly legal to drive at any speed at or below the speed limit. On the highways that do have a posted minimum speed limit I don't think I have ev...
Why do notes on drums always sound in tune with other in instruments, no matter what note the drum is accompanying?
Drums have multi-tones, and you're almost guaranteed to always find a piece of sound from it that matches other instruments. Cymbals can be the same way too
Why is coffee served at literally burning temperatures?
Given that you're asking about coffee when it's served to you as opposed to the process by which it's made, maybe you just need to try a better cafe? It shouldn't be *that* hot. Milk coffee you should be able to drink straight away, espresso is pretty much the same. The main exception that I can think of is a long blac...
Is there a reason product prices are published without tax in the US?
Unlike the Value Added Tax, which is paid bit by bit as value is added during production of an item, here, sales tax is not paid until the item is sold. I believe this is a large contributor to this, as well as the others people have mentioned, no legal requirement to do so, lower appearing prices, and differing sales ...
Why do we pace around when speaking on the phone?
I usually do it when I'm around people so I can move away from them. I feel self concious when people are listening in on my conversation.
Why does drinking alcohol, not to the point of getting wasted but a little bit tipsy maybe borderline drunk make some people much nicer and pleasant?
Alcohol is an anti-anxiety, and normally if you're a bit self conscious taking away that anxiety will help you open up a bit.
If your clothes aren't dried properly, why do they go sour/smell bad?
Am I the only one who's never had clothes that did this?", 'All of these answers are at least partially correct. For the "sour smell" specifically, your culprit is most likely bacterial endospores. They are a real pain to get rid of because they exist inside of a protective coating that shields them from heat and most ...
Is trash island a myth or is it real? Has any organization made an effort to clean it?
Its not an island - its a large area where the amount of suspended particles of garbage is increased above the normal ocean concentrations. Its not visible to the naked eye, and there isn't great piles of stuff floating around. There's about 25 lbs of mostly microscopic garbage per square mile.
Why my hair is jet black , but any stuble/beard is grow is black with brown/red/orange all through it?
The way I remember it from class is that hair colour comes from the pigment melanin which when your sexual hormones come along and you start growing hair in your unmentionables this production drops a little and you get a different colour, mainly red. I don't have anything to back that up but it is something along thos...
Why has the B-52 lasted so long?
It's basic frame and large size had regular updates and modifications and has been used in permissive environments where its basic job is still required. Many other projects were included to supplement it so it was not forced into a role that would have killed it structurally and minimal actual use until the mid 90's h...
Why do people swing their arms when they walk, why is it unusual not to?
everyone thinks they act as counterweights, but maybe not. [test on arm swinging and human gait using legos] the study thinks that the arm swinging doesn't add anything to human gait, rather its a byproduct of the gait. the arms will naturally swing, and it takes more energy to hold them still so we usually don't, and ...
Why does the West Coast have a much more laidback, easygoing culture than the East?
They might be more laid-back on the west coast, but they're also far more insular. I say this as someone who grew up just north of NYC, then moved to Los Angeles. Neighbors in LA hardly know each other, there are imposing walls between houses. Sure, you can skinny-dip in your own pool, but you'll also never see the peo...
How is spending money on customer accusation is worth it in the long run?
I don't know about Uber, but think about streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. They basically all offer a free first month. They let you have full access, hoping that you'll start watching something like House of Cards or Orange is the New Black. You get used to the convenience of being able to watch stuff whenever ...
If Obama has issued less Executive Orders/year than every recent President, why are Republicans so upset about them?
There's really no way to answer this in a fashion that would seem unbiased. Republicans in Congress aren't doing ANYTHING to pass legislation. They are doing this because they can effectively blame Obama for their own lack of action and label it as Obama not getting things done. Well, when Obama gets things done anyway...
Explain Like I'm Not a Football Fan: Tim Tebow's career and why it seems to have suddenly soured.
The things that can make a QB good in college don't always translate well into the NFL. Tebow could run the ball very well, but running quarterbacks are not very valuable in the NFL . He is athletic, but he doesn't want to consider playing another position.
Is there a biological benefit to having two breasts when the overwhelming majority of births are single child?
Body symmetry and weight distribution, I would assume. Most animals tend to be fairly symmetrical along the sagittal plane, at least on the exterior, unless there's an advantageous trait that's favoring non-symmetry. Edit: Typo
How do sites track my activity in incognito mode?
Incognito mode has nothing to do with preventing tracking. It's designed to prevent other users of the **same computer** from discovering what you have been doing. To this end, it erases all files that the browser created during that session. It does nothing to prevent websites from tracking you, nor does it prevent ea...
Why do people sleep better with background noise (like white noise or a fan)?
Some people's ears ring and it could make it a little difficult to sleep. A fan on low will make it so they hear it less.
Why do dogs whip their tail but cats don't?
I assume you meant why dont cats wag their tails when they are happy/excited/playing?The same reason a cow doesn't, its a different animal, with different behaviour.cats do. its usually a sign that they are agitated or anxious rather than excited though', "basically if your cat whips it's tail it'll kill you", 'Dogs wa...
why is a CEO is going to prison for 28 years for sending out tainted peanut butter but 0 executives from General Motors are going to prison for killing over 100 people?
The peanut guys knew willfully disregarded protocol and shipped contaminated peanuts. [They did it on purpose. it's the difference between manslaughter and murder.] Not that I entirely agree with the GM decision, but I am explaining the gap in culpability.Plausible deniability\xa0- from Wikipedia - is the ability for p...
Why do sharps and flats exist in music? why not just have 13 individually named notes?
Most of the top-rated answers are deeply Eurocentric and Platonic. The truth of the matter is that it's wholly arbitrary. You can divide sounds up however you like, and there is no mathematic or audiological reason why it MUST be divided the way we do. It's convention, pure and simple.The first part to understand is th...
- Game cartridges last forever, load instantly, have internal storage, are solid state, and generally seem higher tech than optical discs, so why did the console industry abandon them?
* Storage space. Even today, it's much more expensive to produce a Solid State Drive than it is to produce a Hard Drive with the same storage capacity. * Mass Production. Burning an image to a bunch of disks is way faster than assembling cartridges. * Physical storage. Disks were generally seen as more convenient and e...
Why is dryer lint so flammable?
Surface area - more contact with oxygen in the air, makes a lot of things flammable. Here is [steel wool burning] - basically, steel, which is not something that you'd imagine burns like wood, burning like wood.
Why didn't people on the very top floor of the WTC towers survive?
Well, for one thing, if you had to choose between one ton of material falling on you or 100 tons, well, that's not much of a choice because both are fatal. Add to that the part about the impact on the ground and there's no way to survive.
the concept of Object Oriented Programming
putStuffInBox", etc. While the specifics of the code are doing things like interacting with the game engine to draw the box on the screen, give it collision detection, etc, you're literally coding a \'box\'. Not sure where to go from here without rambling, so let me know if you have any more specific questions
Why do roosters "cock-a-doodle-doo" in the morning?
Crowing is a form of communication. My roosters crow whenever the hell they want, but because a lot of people think its just in the morning, and also because roosters are usually most active in the morning, that's usually when people actually notice the crowing, but it happens all day.
Renditions of gravity always show it as a well going downward. As a spherical and massive object, shouldn't the "well" drain from all angles around the sphere?
Your reasoning is correct, but as far as I am aware, there isn't a way of visualising it, at least on paper.Those "well" renditions are only an illustration, and a kind of bad one at that. If you're thinking of gravity as a force, you don't even have to think about them, that's all Einsteinian General Relativity stuff,...
China has ceased stockpiling US Dollars.....What does this mean, and what are some of the effects we'll see, short & long term?
It's like buying stocks. If you think the stock value will go down, you remove them from your portfolio to avoid losing money. When demand for the stock drops through the floor like that, so does the value of the stock itself, since others are less likely to buy it. The side effect of China not stockpiling the huge amo...
Why does the USA still have an embargo against Cuba?
It's essentially a sham at this point. Cuban Americas can go visit their family and take them whatever they want to Cuba and bring most things back too. They can visit as much as they want now too. My brother in law just brought back a bunch of Havana Club rum when he went to visit his grandmother. My sister in law too...
Why isn't national debt treated like a national emergency?
Countries like the United States are very good at paying back their debts. It's very reliable. Very risk free. So when the government wants to spend a lot of money, everyone is more than willing to lend it some and at a very good rate. The government gets the funds it needs now and the people get a reliable investment ...
How is it that food companies keep the taste of their products consistent over years?
By not changing recipes or suppliers. I don't really see what's confusing here. It's in their best interest not to change anything because it would just piss off their existing customers.
how do artillerymen know how to dish out accurate counter artillery fire? How do they figure out where the hostile fire is coming from?
Artillery batteries are broken into three main groups in the Army. The 13F's are the guys that scout targets and radio coordinates to the 13E's. These guys are the number crunchers who figure out the logistics like angles to fire, types of rounds and fuses, and how much powder to use. They give this information to the ...
These are not answers- this is circlejerking. Please stop this.
It's ridiculous that instead of actual good answers half of the posts in this subreddit are memes and circlejerking.Since this is LI5, I assume you want a simple explanation of why that happened? Well, here goes. [This is your average Redditor] ', "The one time I'd have prefered a link to an image of text.
How come horses and ponies and such have evolved with hooves, but now they need human to tend to them or they'll grow out too much ?
Ever seen tribal or nomadic people who live and dress their native lifestyle, can walk around the sands of a desert, or through the dense brush of some forest completely barefoot? You or I get blisters just by walking a lot in the mall. Worse if we go hiking on a rocky trail, ankles and knees complain a lot. Difference...
How and why are wealthy individuals and corporations able to evade millions in taxes, meanwhile the IRS is on me like lightning if I owe $50?
You're low-hanging fruit. It's pretty easy for a simple accounting error on your part to make you owe them $50, and because it's a very small amount, they're VERY likely to get that from you. Someone wealthy, however, will take much more vetting to ensure that every t is crossed and i is dotted before they go after som...
Why do states need capitals?
States still have a lot of powers and responsibilities delegated to them by the federal government and the constitution, plus they have their own state governors and legislators to handle state-level matters. All of that requires them to have workers, and workers need a place to work. Now, why the individual capitols w...
Why do software companies (especially social media ones) change their UI very often even though it is perfectly fine, often leading to objectively worse design?
Previously worked in product development for a software company. Your UI is developed based on personas . Over time, you begin to capture data about your users and how they use your product - are they really interested in a certain feature? Maybe it's currently difficult or takes them longer to get to the feature in qu...
How does currency valuation lead to a debt crisis?
Pretend that you mow my lawn and I agree to repay you by cooking you a steak dinner. All is going well until some point between you mowing the lawn and me cooking you the dinner, the price of steak goes through the roof due to a national shortage and I have to sell my house to repay the debt! Ok crazy example. But the ...
Why do we have two nostrils? Why not one big hole similar to a mouth?
Throughout the day, one nostril inhales slower than the other, this is important. Different odors tend to take different amounts of time to be absorbed by the olfactory system. Some take slower times, some take faster. Some take a bit of speed to be absorbed, and some don't. The solution to this was to have two nostril...
Why do older people have a harder time learning how to use new technology?
I'd assume it's because they aren't really MOVED by it. I'm sure they're impressed by the technology that comes out on the market all the time. But being impressed doesn't mean you're really interested enough to learn it. And not just the idea of being uninterested but maybe it's because they've seen and experienced so...
If I'm not involved in any criminal activity, then why should I be worried about the NSA spying on me?
If everything you do is public, everthing is subjected to judgement. Your musical preferences, your hobby's, everything. These things are very close to your personality, so having them judged, and perhaps disliked, can be very bad for your personality. You'll not be yourself, instead, you will only do as others find de...
How did ancient armies survive off drinking beer/wine instead of water all the time?
As other have mentioned, beer and wine were weaker. Another common misconception is that drinking will always dehydrate you. This is simply untrue. Drinking in excess is really the devil. Think about it this way, if you had 1 beer for breakfast, 1 beer for lunch, and 1 beer for dinner, would you feel hungover? Probably...
Why do you need to finish a whole course of antibiotics, when you feel much better after taking around 1/2 of them?
Some of the conventional wisdom is that if you take some, but not all, of your antibiotic course, what you do is wipe out the more vulnerable bacteria, but leave the hardier, more resistant specimins alive. Thus, you both have a chance of relapse , and potentially of making the bacteria in general more resistant to the...
Why Russian heavy equipment isn't popular as their military hardware exports?
I'm assuming that if the West allowed it, all countries would use western weaponry. The US doesn't sell weapons to many countries. Even Russia tried to buy some ships from France. Generally, the west makes superior products across the line: weapons, heavy machinery, consumer products, etc.
What's the benifit of working at your desk while standing instead of sitting?
If you are standing up occasionally your butt won't get so sweaty, thus, less Swass. Also, sitting for long periods of time is apparently unhealthy, and can cause hemorrhoids.
Why do people who hear voices in their heads, the voices only tell them to do bad things?
Late to the party but there's a Ted talk about the topic of hearing voices. [Enjoy]
How can an energy drink with no calories or carbs still provide energy?
Caffeine and vitamins are absorbed by your blood stream, but have no caloric value and cut off certain receptors in your brain . In the case of caffeine, it is an inhibitor that cuts off certain relays to your CNS, that may suppress hunger but increase metabolism. So you're not really getting energy from the caffeine, ...
What's wrong with the global economy and why is worldwide growth so slow compared to previous decades?
You have to remember that growth figures are *relative*, not absolute. Say country X has a GDP of $20B, and grows by 10% in a year. That means they added $2B to their GDP over the year. Now say country Y has a GDP of $200B, and they also grow by 10%. They have to add ten times the amount to their GDP compared to countr...
Why do manned rockets re-enter the atmosphere so fast? Why can't we just really slowly come down so as to avoid the heat friction?
You have to go extremely fast to maintain orbit. That's why we need rockets in the first place. You can't just float up into space in a balloon and keep going forever. Being in orbit is essentially constantly falling towards a planet, and constantly missing. When you want to come back down, you've got to get rid of all...
Psychologically, why are we not able to look into someone's eye when we are guilty?
It's a cultural thing. Some cultures do the opposite where they look you straight in the eye when admitting wrong.
Why do we enjoy watching other people play video games, when that time could be spent playing it ourselves?
There are several reasons- If it's competitive, it's often at a skill you aren't. and you may not have the time/interest in developing that skill. It's enjoyable to see someone do something well. You also get to be pretty lazy. You can pause, or go get a drink, or have it open on a second monitor while you do something...
Why don't Earth's poles melt during their summers?
Proximity to the sun practically doesn't change. It isn't a factor - the sun is WAY too far away that merely tilting the Earth doesn't really change the distance. In fact, the Earth is actually farther away from the Sun during the northern summer and closer to the sun during winter because its orbit isn't entirely circ...
Why is the derivative of "e^x" e^x?
That's sort of how e is defined. It's the number that's its own derivative and the exponential has a slope of 1 at x=0.
I'm seeing a LOT of the same questions over and over again. Can we please do a big update the FAQ/Five-Year-Old's Guide to the Galaxy?
I tried to type one up for the Trig functions question, but couldn't post it on the link. Posting it here because I went to the effort of writing the entire thing out. Grab yourself some paper, and draw a circle, and through the centre draw a horizontal and vertical line. From the middle point to the edge of the circle...
Why is it so bad to turn off a computer by the physical on/off button?
It isn't bad. Maybe it used to be, but it's not a big deal anymore. The only real problem as other people have suggested is relating to how files are stored and the possibility of losing some data. However, computers have become a lot smarter in how they handle sudden poweroffs. Idk what windows does currently, but if ...
Why don't game developers release old games to be bought and downloaded?
Practical answer - developers are actually pretty poor at keeping their own past projects safe and there's often trouble finding a complete set of source and assets to work with. And that's assuming licensing isn't a problem. Economical answer - If they have the source, spending time modernising it to meet compliance a...
In US sports, why is it that there aren't tens of teams per state/city...like in European football?
There have been a number of people who have said that this is because leagues can only have a certain number of teams so they need to be more spread out. I can't fully speak for the other sports but for hockey, this isn't true. For sports teams to survive, they obviously need revenue. Not all cities can support hockey ...
That rumbling sound you hear when you clench your rear upper neck muscles.
I've noticed this sound is much louder while under the influence of opiates. Can somebody explain that?", 'I have wondered this for years. *saved for future reference* Hopefully there will be an answeralso, the sound you hear when you shut your eyes really hard', "I can't hear anything, and now I'm sad.
Why every social media is moving away from chronological order for its feeds?
Simple, chronological is good if you follow just a few people. If you follow hundreds of them, you'll only see posts from the people who post the most, less active ones being buried so much that you'll never see them at all.
Why did I always have to go pee while hiding during Hide and Go Seek as a kid?
When you were hiding, you probably took the game at least a little seriously and didn't want to be found. This was stressful, even if just slightly. It was also probably exciting since as long as you were not discovered then you were still winning. This causes your body to be stressed. There are two factors at play tha...
Why are uncontacted tribes still living as hunter gatherers? Why did they not move in to the neolithic stage of human social development?
If it ain't broke don't fix it. Id like to make the argument that maybe it's more fulfilling and perhaps it's the proper way the human body and mind should be used. Ipso facto they're probably happier than most people. Just a thought.Two reasons: they haven't had to innovate to survive, and they haven't been out compet...
What part in our brain tells us what to like and what to dislike?. Music genres for example. And how does it know what we will like and dislike?
I don't know what parts of the brain are involved, but it's all a matter of learning from experiences while growing up. For a fairly direct example, I don't like White Russians because the first time I drank them I got sick. It doesn't matter that I actually enjoyed the taste, and that I got sick because I was still re...
Why is OPEC not considered anti-competitive like say if 2 or more companies were to come together and control a product they sell?
The international system is anarchic. That is, there is no overarching authority which tells nations what to do and punishes them if they disobey; we don't have a world government. Cartels can be declared illegal by national governments. Since there is no international government to outlaw such things the OPEC cartel i...
How does a single-cell organism "think" or make decisions?
It doesn't. Single-celled organisms are essentially biological machines. They're nothing more than a large bundle of complex chemical reactions that produce a self-perpetuating result.
why are Formula 1 racecars so heavily regulated? Why isn't there a motorsport with no engineering limits?
It comes down simply to safety and competition. Safety regulations make up the majority of the Formula 1 regulations. They obviously do a very good job at keeping drivers alive because they have had some very nasty crashes over the past two decades with relatively low injuries. It's crazy to watch how nasty of an accid...
What is the origin and purpose of the prom/homecoming king and queen?
At my school we had a prom and everyone in our year voted for the prom king and queen. However it didn't become just a popularity contest; the prom king actually ended up as the straight A* student who was quite quiet and just a nice guy to everyone. He was never deemed as one of the 'popular' kids and didn't play spor...
Why is the front of a bus flat, as opposed to the pointed fronts of cars?
Buses have flat fronts for a number of reasons. As already stated, to improve how much the driver can see. The reason drivers sit in front of the front wheels in buses is because: Buses are designed to get in as close the the kerb as possible. You can 'sweep' the kerb with the front of the bus while turning towards a k...
Why is the average savings account Annual Percentage Yield 0.06%, when it was as high as 11% in the 1980's.
Because the [Federal Funds Rate] has been [~0%] for several years, and the interest rates on things like a savings accounts is closely linked to it. In turn, the Fed rate has been low basically as a response to the Great Recession and subsequent slow recovery .
How are plastic microbeads in facial washes and soap so much more dangerous than sand, which is already common in lakes and oceans?
ELI5, why don't they just use sand, pumice or peach pits in washes? Is it really cheaper to manufacture plastic beads than just use natural resources?
How do Cryogenics work?
Currently, it doesn't. The people who freeze themselves are banking on future societies having the technology to unfreeze them safely.As i understand the science, The issues present in cryogenic freezing are that when you freeze someone, In order to prevent damage to the body from gradually lowering the temperature, th...
Why don't alcoholic beverages need to have nutrition labels?
[They will, someday soon.]. tl;dr: Treasury department has just approved the labelling format. It's voluntary for now.
How did people of Japan come together to build a technologically advanced nation, in the aftermath of World War 2?
Well part of it was because they didn't have much choice. Much like Carthage when they were beaten by Rome in the second Punic war, they were basically not allowed to have a military. So they focused ALL their development on other things and that's why they prosper so much. Just imagine if we did something similar in t...
Why are executions so difficult to carry out without any complications?
Because MDs, RNs, paramedics are not allowed to be involved. The straightforward drugs are no longer available due to their makers refusing to sell them for executions or the country where they're made refusing to allow their export for executions.
What happens to all the bullets fired AFTER a war, battle, or a shootout? I mean, is there a bullet recycling center somewhere? They can't go all to waste right?
Some metal is salvaged in areas where labour is cheap or metal is scarce: [drop tanks] Presumably piles of casings from machine gun positions and other readily available stuff like that would be collected as cheap metal, but I've never heard of it happening, specifically. /edit: [WW2 lead being salvaged] some links to ...
Why do ducks constantly quack while flying in formation.
That thing's gonna eat us!", and "Here I am!". When flying they maintain both visual and vocal contact , but they also use their voices to say things like "Food, lets land!", etc.I don't know about flying, but I had two pet ducks when I was a kid. They quaked pretty much anytime they couldn't see each other. A kind of,...
Star Wars IV-VI, but like, literally like a 5 year old because I'm about to watch them with my 5 year old.
It's awesome. There are princess, knights, wizards, aliens, and magic, and magic swords. But it all takes place in space. Also spaceships.
Why aren't the presidential debates hosted by PBS or other free channels?
When someone invites you to a dinner party, you can either accept, or decline. You don't get to nominate someone else to hold the dinner party instead. Believe me, NPR listeners will hear more about the Presidential debate than it could possible deserve.Ok, the answers on here aren't all that good. Here's my take: Prim...
Why do people still take up smoking?
I used to be a regular smoker and in my case, its the feeling. Curiosity drove me to try cigarettes and I really enjoyed it. Since nicotine releases dopamine in the brain, the first few smokes you have are very euphoric and feels all around good. But it eventually stops giving you that same good rush and just becomes a...
Why can't cancerous tumours be simply cut out?
What /u/yoman258 said basically. Some cancerous tumors also don't have an easy shape to let them be cut out. The tissue being meshed in with healthy tissued to a very fine degree. A big problem with cancer is that if you leave even just one cell of cancerous tissue, it can come back.
Why are non-ginger men's beards ginger?
I'm one of those men. Apparently, there's a different gene that codes for red pigment in beard hair than what codes for red pigment in head hair. And while the gene for a red head are somewhat rare, the gene for a red beard is super common. I think I heard that it's something like 1 in 4 men of Northern and Western Eur...
Why does something cold and smooth sometimes feel wet?
Our body does not sense wetness - we're conditioned to feel the sensation with pressure and cold temperature. Here's an experiment: rub a cold soda can through thin clothes on your back. It'll feel like it's trickling down your skin! Your back has few pressure receptors, making it one of the easiest body areas to 'tric...
The hype around Destiny (the game)?
I'll add to these comments with one thing. A large portion of the hype is around Bungie. Bungie made the Halo games, as well as Marathon and ONI, which are all great franchises. Bungie also has very close ties to it's community, if they didn't see what the community was doing in Halo 2, we probably wouldn't have Forge,...
why do people of all ages, races, languages, ethnical persuasion laugh the exact same way?
Humans don't all laugh the same. There are giggles, chuckles, belly laughs, snorting laughs, wheezing laughs, loud laughs, soft laughs, snickers, sneers, and many other variants.
How do bullets go out of the barrel without destroying the gun?
The bullets do rub against the inside of the barrel. But the barrel is made of very hard steel, while most bullets are lined with a very soft metal like copper or brass. So the barrel rubs grooves in the bullet but the softer bullet does little damage to the gun. I did say little, though, not none. It leaves behind tra...
Why is it necessary for generator engine size to increase as output voltage increases? Is it possible to run a 50Kw generator with a tiny 1000cc engine?
You could run a huge generator with a relatively small engine - provided there's no load attached. As the load on a generator increases, the armature gets physically harder to turn. This is why you need more torque as your power demands increase.
If a band has no original members in it how is it still considered the same band?
It's the same question as the problem of [the ship of Theseus], which has been debated by philosophers for ages.This is the same philosophical question as the [Ship of Theseus]Plot twist, if the original members come together again and form a new band under the same name, which is the real band.\r\rGenuine question ELI...
Why do some sidewalk corners have a metal plate with nubs/ribs?
From the picture given in another reply here in the UK it's to mark a crossing for blind people because they can feel it through their feet.